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Do you think this is in poor taste?
Most of us are familiar with the article What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents, which I agree with it and thought it was a good read.
Well, last week a printed copy of this article was sent home with DS from daycare. They sent it home with every child in the facility. I thought this was in poor taste. For one, the article is titled "What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents" because they aren't telling parents. The way you say things is just as important as what you want to say. This article was written in a way that was more blunt than what you would say to someone's face - and for a good reason.
I also thought it was weird because the children at the facility are between the ages of 6-weeks old and Kindergarten. The majority of the kids don't have the communication skills to tell their parents how their day was (infants - 2) so I think a lot of this article doesn't apply.
Overall, sending this home just kinda irked me. I'm not going to say anything to the director, because that would probably just make her feel like she was right, but when I talked to DH he didn't think it was a big deal.
So, do you think it was in poor taste to send this article home? And interestingly enough, that was the same day they forgot to send home is daily report sheet.
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BFP #1 6/22/09 EDD: 3/2/10 DS born: 3/8/10
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Re: Do you think this is in poor taste?
I do think it is odd to see a daycare facility sending this article home. I agree, a lot of it doesn't apply. However, I don't think it was in bad taste... but that might be because I agree with what the article says. I see the article as helpful advice that offers a different perspective on things.
Although, I believe the facility could have done it differently so not to offend others. Instead, they could have provided parents with the option to read it by leaving it in an area where it could be easily viewed or picked up. I could see how some parents might feel as if they are being "targeted" by having this article sent home.
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Having not finished the article... it makes me want to write a
"what parents really want to tell the teachers" right back.
I think it's inappropriate in the manner it's delivered. The points are good, the delivery is condescending and patronizing.
Ditto.
The article doesn't offend me and I agree with a lot of the things that were said.
But I don't think it was the smartest decision by the daycare director to send it home. Very passive aggressive and non-professional to me.
I would be irritated and offended.
That article made me angry.
I think my daycare has done something in even poorer taste that basically called a small group of parents out for something that they could have just limited to a one-on-one casual conversation.
Like IMFun, I'd be tempted to write a response to such an article starting with don't let your teachers have their bully kids in the same class they teach, but that's just me.
Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.
This exactly! That plus the fact that the director isn't always the most professional bugs me. Not enough to not send my son there, but it is irritating. I think I was more ticked that DH didn't understand why it bothered me.
Dx: PCOS and short luteal phase
18 cycles (3 with our RE) - Metformin + Clomid + HCG booster did the trick!
BFP #1 6/22/09 EDD: 3/2/10 DS born: 3/8/10
TTC #2 since Dec 2011
BFP #2 7/8/12 EDD: 3/18/12 M/C @ 9w1d: 8/16/12
This.
"Finally, deal with negative situations in a professional manner."
LOLOLol - someone didn't read the article before she copied it and sent it home!
LOL!
This
This
I mean no disrespect, but working at a daycare and being a teacher are not the same thing. I am sure kids learn plenty at daycare, but it's not the same as being a real teacher.
I would be unhappy. That seems like a ridiculous thing to send home.
I am a "real" certified teacher and also worked at a daycare while I was in college. I politely disagree. What do you mean "real" teacher?
Ron Clarks book sucks. His book is weak IMO and who in the world has 55 rules in a classroom? I have 4.
If you are a decent parent, ignore this. He's writing to the loud mouth irrational parents who have no grasp on what their kid is like in school, or they do know and choose to or do not have the time to deal with them. Usually the worst kids have the worst parents.
Handing it out was kind of in poor taste, but I would just roll my eyes at it and put it into the recycling bin.
And look, it was a great thread topic for thenest! Bravo passive daycare director!
My daughter's daycare caregiver teaches a room full of 4 year olds their alphabet, how to sound out basic words, beginning math skills, even some computer skills.
She is a teacher.
Good points, BettyJoe!
And, yeah, I do consider DS's caregivers teachers. Some are certified, some are working on it, others are just really good and patient with kids. There are up to 13 toddlers (ages 18-months to 2 years) in his room with 2 teachers. I think they are amazing!
Dx: PCOS and short luteal phase
18 cycles (3 with our RE) - Metformin + Clomid + HCG booster did the trick!
BFP #1 6/22/09 EDD: 3/2/10 DS born: 3/8/10
TTC #2 since Dec 2011
BFP #2 7/8/12 EDD: 3/18/12 M/C @ 9w1d: 8/16/12
A "real" teacher would be one with a college degree who is properly licensed and teaches at a school K-12. As a daycare employee, do you have to worry about testing prep for the Taks or whatever the latest testing method is? Are you spending your evenings grading papers, homework, tests? Doing lesson plans and working with other teachers on curriculum? Workshops? Dealing with school administration? You mentioned you are certified. Are daycare employees certified in teaching? I am sure day cares teach, and that some great people work there, but I don't believe that this article applies to them.
My point is, I think this article was not written with the intent to be applied to day cares. I think it is rude and condescending to send it home with kids. If there is a problem, they should speak to the parent, not blast out this article.
Do you wipe 20+ sh*tty a$$es a day?
I teach high school and I consider my children's daycare providers teachers. They may not be teaching TAKS but they are teaching them other values that are much more important than a state standardized test. Our providers do lesson plans too and have a curriculum. They too have an "administration" that they report too. Mainly the parents
I think there are a lot of teachers that would pay parents to be as over-involved as this author is bitching about.
I would be hella annoyed if my MDO sent something like this home, but I would try to be as zen as BJ about it and just toss it in the trash.
j+k+m+e | running with needles
I get the point and I am not a teacher, so that's not where I am coming from... I don't disagree with any of the statements about learning, etc. and I sure as heck would not want to change diapers. Just came across a little bit overly assumptive of the day care, IMHO.
As a daycare "employee" in college I did not have to prepare my students for the TAKS (now STARR) test. As a second grade elementary school teacher in a public school, I also did not have to prepare my students for the TAKS test. That officially begins in 3rd grade, but you can bet that everything that child was taught each year leading up to 3rd grade was needed for that test. (I also taught 3-5th grades and am very familiar with that test.)
As a daycare "employee" I did have a curriculum to follow, just as I did as an elementary school teacher. I was required to stay late/after hours for various reasons, and I did have to turn in a basic plan for my week.
Daycares are not required to hire certified teachers, but guess what, neither are private schools in the state of Texas.
Essentially we agree on the same thing--That letter the daycare sent home was stupid and in poor taste. However, those daycare employees are spending their days educating other people's children through beginning math skills, beginning reading skills, socialization, and human interaction. There is not a moment during those days when the children are not "learning" and being "taught" by the adult(s) in that room. I went to school to earn my degree but I don't think my certification makes me any better or more valuable as a teacher than those any place else.
I work at a school that has kids from infants to my grade which is first.
I am a certified teacher with 9 years experience with 3 certifications and bust my butt at school no matter if it is a "daycare" as you keep referring to.
Here's the deal.
Everyone would love to be able to gripe at their clients for this or that, for acting irrational, for having unrealistic expectations.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE would it EVER be okay for me to mail an article about bridezillas to all my clients, regardless of the action on behalf of any one of them. This was a really idiotic move on the part of the daycare. There's no excuse.
Also, that article says something about teachers being educated professionals, which many daycare "teachers" are indeed not. At daycare, you are being paid directly from the pockets of the parents whose children are in your care. It's a completely different situation than a K-12 schoolteacher.
edit: because i just read the teacher vs. daycare teacher stuff in more detail... yes, daycare teachers "teach" but it is a VERY DIFFERENT kind of teacher. no, private schoolteachers don't have to have teacher certification, but in most cases they do need to be degreed professionals. i loved my kids' daycare teachers and always made sure to show appreciation-- but they were, in my opinion, nowhere near in the league of k-12 teachers. in preschool-age daycare, you're learning life skills and very basic concepts (numbers, letters, shapes, colors). while patience is indeed required, degrees and education are really not. most parents can teach their children those kinds of things at home.
it isn't about whether they're special, patient, or smart. there's a pretty definitive line for me.
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ditto